Safety release for refrigerators



March 5, 1957 E. w. NORTH Erm.

SAFETY RELEASE: Foa REFRIGERATORS Filed May 12. 1954 SAFETY RELEASE FOR REFRIGERATORS Edwin W. North, Rockford, and Robert K. Unter, Roscoe, lll., assignors to National Lock Company, Rockford, lll., a corporation of Delaware Application May 12, 1954, Serial No. 429,227

6 Claims. (Cl. 292-3363) The present invention relates to a novel safety release for releasing the latched door of a refrigerator cabinet and the like from the interior of the cabinet by a child when the door of the cabinet is closed and latched.

Numerous fatalities have occurred during the past several years resulting from children playing-With abandoned or unused refrigerators of the type where the door'is latched to the cabinet by a latch mechanism operated by a handle on the exterior of the door and which mechanism generally latches or locks automatically-when the door is closed. In the event that a child is entrapped in such a cabinet or enclosure and the door isclosed and latched, the child will probably sufocate in but a short time for the space between the contiguous sides oredges of the door and the cabinet is sealed against theY entrance of air from the exterior into the interior lof the enclosure.

When the door of such refrigerator cabinets and the like is closed, there is little or no chance for any light to enter between the door or lid and the adjacent surfaces of the cabinet, and particularly is this true in refrigerator or storage cabinets where a gasket is employed for sealing the interior of the cabinet or enclosure from the atmosphere.

ln an effort to prevent such accidents andiimprisonment of children within abandoned or unused refrigerators,

llaws have been proposed or passed making it compulsory to remove the latch on an abandoned refrigerator,V ice box or freezer unit. However, such laws or precautions are .not strictly enforced or complied with `and children continue to crawl into such abandoned or little' used reigerators or cabinets and become trappedor imprisoned Ain the darkened interior when the door or lidfis closed and the enclosure is sealed olf from the atmosphere. To

:prevent such accidents or unintentional'or intentional 'im- .prisonmenta the present invention comprehends a novel safety release that may be operated by-the imprisoned child or occupant of such a cabinet or enclosure equipped with the present invention.

The present'invention further comprehendsthe provision of a novel safety release for a refrigerator whereby a child entrapped or imprisoned in a refrigerator rcabinet or enclosure,- is enabled to quickly and easily -unlatch the door of the refrigerator from the interior of the enclosure.

It is a further object of the present invention to;.pro vide such a door or refrigerator cabinet with a plunger of light transmitting material whereby an entrapped or imprisoned child is attracted bya' source of light fpassing through the plunger and is enabled to readily locate and grasp the inner end of the plunger projecting into the interior of the cabinet and thereat push outwardly on the plunger whereby the outer end of the plunger forces the handle outwardly to unlatch the latch bolt.

The novel plunger of light transmitting material is provided in the door of the enclosure in alignment with and its outer end adjacent the portion of the handle that is grasped or manipulated for opening the refrigerator or cabinet from the exterior. Thus the child imprisoned in the refrigerator cabinet orenclosure is attracted by States Patent -against a shoulderl on the part .21 yand at its other ICC the light enteringthe `darkened enclosure and by pressing on the visible end of the plunger moves the latch handle to unlocked :position `and discngages the latch to permit the door to swing open.

Furtherobjectsare to provide a construction of maximum simplicity, efficiency,` economy and ease of assembly and operation, and` suchl further objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and are inherently possessed thereby.

In the drawing: j

Figure l is a view in lperspective-cfa refrigerator having va door in which the present novel'inventi'on has been embodied.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical cross section through thenovel safety release, the View being in a plane represented by the line 2-2of Fig. 1 and viewed in the direction` ofthe arrows.

Fig. 3 is a viewsimilar to Fig.v 2 but showing the novel safety release projected or pushed outwardly by the occupant in the interior of the cabinet to release the handle of the -latch mechanism.

Referring to -the-disclosurein the -drawing and more particularlyto the novel villustrative embodiment ofthe present.- inventiotn as applied to al door of a refrigerator, the novelfsafety release' is shown embodied in a door 10 of a refrigeratorcabinetll .in which the door is hinged forswinging movement along `one vvertical edge 12 yof the cabinet or enclosure and provided adjacent its other edge d3 with a suitable latch mechanism adapted to be manually released bythe operation of a handle 14.

To prevent the accidental or intentional imprisonment of a child or occupant within` the darkened cabinet when the door 11' is closed and to permit the child or occupant to actuate the handle-14 and thereby disengage or release the latch` mechanism `when ientrapped within'the cabinet 'or enclosure, thereis *providedV a tube or sleeven 15 projecting laterally through the door 10 andl extendingfrom the inner wall'16 to the exterior wall 17 ofthe door.

v"this `tube is provided with al1-,annular enlargement'18 at its inner end abutting and anchored tothe inner wall i6 by screwsor'other securing means20 and a stepped yreduction' 19 at its outer or forward end where vthe forward endprojects through the outer wall 17.

`Wi'thinthe boreof this tube or sleeve 15 is'conformably but slidably 'received the'enlarged, solid cylindrical portion 210i a ph1nger'22. This rplunger is preferably formed of alight transmitting or transparent plastic com- `positiomsuch as clear Lucite, to transmit light from the eXterior of the 'refrigerator to the darkened interior when -the door 10 is shut.

this reduced portion'23, whenthe plunger is assembled in the manner shown inv Fig. 2, is a light compression spring 27 adapted to vreturn theA plunger to its inoperative position shown in Fig. 2. This spring bears at one end end against a shoulder 29 on the stepped reduction i9 which closely encompasses the part 23 of the plunger.

The enlarged end or knob 24 of the plunger when in inoperative position as shown in Fig. 2, is disposed in abutting relation or adjacent the lower end 31 of the handle 14 so that when the inner end 21 of the plunger 22 is grasped by a child imprisoned within the cabinet or enclosure and pushed outwardly or forwardly, the enlarged or knob end 24 moves the handle 14 to the release position shown in Fig. 3.

This knob 24 is of substantially greater width, diameter or cross section than the width of the adjacent portion of the handle 14 whereby a substantial amount of light is transmitted through the plunger to the interior of the cabinet. Furthermore, the size of the knob of the plunger is such as to assure ample bearing surface to prevent the handle 14 from slipping off the plunger. To assure maximum light entering the interior of the cabinet, the inner end 32 of the plunger is concaved whereby the incoming light is dispersed.

The plunger 22 fitting conformably in the plastic tubular member or sleeve 15, effectively seals the interior of the cabinet from the atmosphere. To seal the encompassngptubular member or sleeve 415 in the spaced and insulated walls 16 and 17 of the door, a gasket 33 is preferably provided between each adjacent end of the tubular member or sleeve and the portions of the walls 16 and 17 encompassing the opening in the door.

From the above description and the disclosure in the drawing, it will be apparent that the present invention Ycomprehends a novel and effective safety release permitting a child entrapped in a latched refrigerator cabinet or enclosure to quickly locate the plunger of light transmitting material and actuate the handle to release the latch mechanism and permit opening of the door.

Having thus disclosed the invention, we claim:

l. A safety device for preventing a child from being entrapped and suffocated in a refrigerator having a door provided with a latch and a latch handle for releasing the latch, comprising a tubular member in the door adjacent the latch handle and providing an opening there through, a sealing plunger of light transmitting material slidably mounted in the tubular member, the outer end of said plunger projecting to the exterior of the door and abutting the latch handle but exposed to the light at the exterior of the door for transmitting this light to the interior of the refrigerator and the inner end of said plunger projecting beyond the interior of the door into the interior of the refrigerator where it may be viewed and engaged and forced outwardly by the entrapped child to release the latch handle.

2. A safety device for preventing a child from being entrapped in an abandoned or unused refrigerator hav ing a door provided with a latch and a latch handle adapted to be pulled outwardly to disengage the latch, comprising a tubular member in the door adjacent the latch handle and providing an opening therethrough, a sealing plunger of light transmitting material slidably mounted in the tubular member, the outer end of said plunger projecting to the exterior of the door and abutting the latch handle for moving the same, said outer end being exposed to the light at the exterior of the door for transmitting this light to the interior of the refrigerator and the inner end of said plunger projecting beyond the interior of the door into the darkened interior of the refrigerator Where it is visible to the child when the door is closed, whereby the child may view and disengage the latch when the door is accidentally latched by engaging and pushing on the visible end of the plunger.

3. A safety device for preventing a child from being entrapped in an abandoned or unused refrigerator hav ing a door provided with a latch and a latch handle adapted to be pulled outwardly to disengage the latch, comprising a sealing plunger mounted in an opening through the door adjacent the latch handle, said plunger being of a light transmitting plastic composition and conformably received and slidably mounted in the opening, the outer end of said plunger projecting to the exterior of the door and abutting the latch handle with said outer end being of greater width than the width of the portion of the handle it abuts for the transmission of light and the inner end of said plunger projecting beyond the interior of the door and visible to the child when the door is closed, whereby the child may visually locate the inner end of the plunger and by forcing the plunger outwardly move the latch handle to release position.

4. A safety release for the latch handle of a refrigerator door for preventing a child from being entrapped or imprisoned within the cabinet of such refrigerator when the `door is closed and latched, comprising a tube mounted in an opening in the door adjacent the latch handle, and a plunger of light transmitting material providing a closure for said tube and slidably mounted in the tube with one end engaging the latch handle and the other end projecting into the cabinet at the rear of the door, the end ot said plunger engaging the latch handle being of greater dimension than the engaged portion of the handle whereby said other end transmits light from the exterior to the interior of the cabinet and when viewed and grasped by the entrapped child and forced outwardly, moves the latch handle to release position.

5. A safety release for the latch handle of a refrigerator door for preventing a child from being entrapped or imprisoned within the cabinet of such refrigerator when the door is closed and latched, comprising a plunger of light transmitting material mounted in an opening in the door adjacent the latch handle and provided with a knob on the outer end of the plunger of substantially greater width than the width of the handle for the entrance and transmission of light from the exterior of the door and a part projecting through the door and into the cabinet to illuminate the interior of the cabinet and thereat engaged and pushed by the entrapped child whereby the outer end of the plunger moves the latch handle to release the door.

6. A safety release for the latch handle of a refrigerator door for preventing a child from being entrapped or imprisoned Within the cabinet of such refrigerator when the door is closed and latched, comprising an elongated plunger of light transmitting material mounted in an opening in the door adjacent the latch handle having its outer end engaging the latch handle and being of greater width than the Width of the portion of the handle it engages for the transmission of light through this end to interior of the cabinet and its inner end projecting into the cabinet where it may be viewed and grasped by the entrapped child and pushed outwardly to move the latch handle to unlatched position, said inner end being concaved to disperse the light entering through said plunger.

References Cited in the dle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,539,858 Morrow June 2, 1925 1,762,383 Booraem lune 10, 1930 2,334,479 Creager Nov. 16, 1943 2,617,287 Tobias Nov. 11, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,058 Great Britain of 1911 am .sl- 

